Los Angeles, I'm Yours
by elanev91
Summary: Lily and Marlene have ventured to sunny Venice Beach, CA to escape their British "summer" - their Airbnb host is pretty fit (and his mates aren't half bad either).


**Here, we have the Airbnb fic requested by a Tumblr anon (you guys - my best friend has confessed to being this anon but THEN THEY TOOK IT BACK after I was like 'I'M CALLING YOU OUT SO HARD IN MY AUTHOR'S NOTE" (I know, I just shouldn't have said that, but, as previously discussed, I'm too Gryffindor to function) and you have no idea of the mental anguish I've been putting myself through to figure out which story is true (though shout out and a million thanks to them for naming the company mentioned below and for a million other details I've included here)). Either way, FIC! UNWIELDY, MASSIVE FIC!**

 **Also, note: Remus is disabled in this fic. As a non-disabled person, I'm writing based on my own research/understanding, and I don't speak** _ **at all**_ **for anyone who might have a similar experience.**

* * *

'Why on fucking _earth_ did I let you convince me to come to California?'

Marlene was glaring at Lily as they waited for their Lyft outside of LAX, a thin sheen of sweat already coating her face. 'I told you not to wear jeans,' Lily said, raising an amused eyebrow. Marlene smacked her arm, 'You could have mentioned that it would be thirty fucking five here!'

Lily clicked her tongue, nodded seriously, 'Oh, right, I forgot you can't look things up yourself.'

Marlene frowned, but Lily could tell she was biting back a laugh, 'You know what Evans - '

Lily's mobile buzzed in her hand, 'Oh, look at that, our Lyft is here.'

She double checked the car that had pulled up against the black VW Tiguan the app told her they were waiting for and smiled at Marlene, 'Ready?'

Marlene sighed, 'This car better have aircon.' Lily rolled her eyes, 'I think they have aircon everywhere in the States.'

Lily stepped forward, opened the car door, and poked her head in, 'Adler?'

Their driver turned around, grinned, 'Yup! Lily?'

Lily smiled, 'Yes! Can you open the boot for us so we can toss our cases back? Is that alright?'

'The - oh, the trunk. Yeah, sure.' Lily laughed, 'Shit, sorry, I - '

Adler waved a hand, 'No worries!' They popped open the boot and Lily walked back around, chucked her bag in. Marlene slid hers in beside Lily's, closed the door, and walked back around to climb into the backseat next to Lily.

'Hi,' Adler said, when Marlene pulled the door shut, 'I'm Adler!'

Marlene smiled, 'I'm Marlene, can you blast the bloody aircon please?'

Lily laughed, shook her head at Adler in the mirror, 'She is just _such_ a charmer, isn't she?'

Adler laughed, 'Her accent will let her get away with anything while she's here, it's fine.'

Marlene stuck her tongue out at Lily, and Lily shoved her.

Adler pointed things out as they drove, the ecological reserve, the marina, gave them some advice about where to go while they were in Los Angeles. 'You've _got_ to check out Smorgasbord,' they said, as they turned off the main road and onto a side street lined with one-level stucco houses, 'It's this _huge_ food truck event that happens every weekend downtown. You guys will love it.'

'Is this a thing,' Lily asked, pointing at the houses out her window, 'All these stucco houses?'

'More earthquake resistant than brick,' Adler said, turning down another street, and Lily noticed that the houses got a little bigger here, a bit more spaced out.

Lily laughed awkwardly and Adler shot her a grin in the mirror, 'Don't worry about it - they keep telling us we're going to have "the big one," but we're still here.'

Lily snorted, 'That's hardly comforting.'

Adler just shrugged, 'You don't think about it as often as you'd think.'

They stopped in front of one of the only two story houses on the street, a grey stucco house with a cement wall around the front garden.

'This is it,' Alder said, turning in their seat a bit and smiling at them. Lily grinned at Marlene, 'Ready?!' Marlene nodded, her smile breaking through now, 'Let's go, Evans.'

Lily turned back to Adler, grinned, 'Thank you _so much._ ' They smiled back, 'Of course. Let me get the trunk door for you.'

Lily heard the door click and she hopped out, pulled Marlene behind her, and grabbed their bags from the boot. They said one last goodbye to Adler, shut the door, and watched as they drove off.

'Now what do we do,' Marlene asked. Lily bit her lip, pulled her mobile back out of her pocket, 'Let me check what the email said, hold on.'

She scrolled through a few screens, pulled up the email, and skimmed it quickly. 'Oh, okay, it just says to ring the bell.'

Marlene snorted, 'Like we couldn't have figured that out without the bloody email.'

Lily laughed, started dragging her bag behind her towards the gate, 'Obviously not, because we were just standing on the sidewalk like a pair of arseholes.'

Marlene rolled her eyes, 'We're intelligent women, Evans, we would have figured it out.'

Lily grinned, suppressed the urge to roll her own eyes, 'I'm sure we would have.'

They walked up the short cement walk in the centre of the garden and stepped (a bit tentatively) up onto the porch. 'This place,' Lily said, letting her voice drop to little more than a whisper, 'is unbelievably posh.'

Marlene shot her a look, 'Didn't you know this when you booked it?'

'It didn't look posh from the pictures,' she said, 'he put a picture of some weird art made out of a sink tap on the listing for fucks' sake.'

'Oh my god,' Marlene said, laughing a bit louder than Lily would have liked, making her shush her, 'that's why you picked this place, isn't it?'

Lily shrugged, 'Might've been.'

Marlene shook her head, 'You're so ridiculous, Evans. Really and truly.'

'But you love me,' Lily said, grinning at her. Marlene sighed, 'Alright, fine. But I'm not going to if you keep making me stand out in this fucking heat forever. Ring the bloody bell.'

'Fine, fine, fine, christ,' Lily grumbled, and she stepped forward and rang the bell.

They stood there quietly for a moment, Lily shifting her weight awkwardly between her feet, until they heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. They were quick and heavy, and followed by what sounded like a lot of skittering. Marlene shot Lily a look, 'If we die, I will never forgive you.'

Lily had just opened her mouth to respond when the door opened and her heart stopped in her chest.

It wasn't, all in all, the sexiest introduction she'd ever had - he was in the process of containing a very large, very enthusiastic, _very_ drool-covered dog who was doing his best to get out of the door - but he was… he was fucking _gorgeous._

And even though Lily could see Marlene staring at her from the corner of her eye, heard her mutter, 'Oh for fuck's sake' under her breath, Lily didn't care. She didn't give anything even remotely resembling a fuck.

Even though he was bent over to restrain the dog, Lily could tell that he was tall - even bent over at the waist, he was still almost her fucking height (bastard). He had chaotic black hair that was standing up all over his head, glasses that were halfway down the bridge of his nose, and his laugh, _his fucking laugh,_ was rocketing through her and already driving her mad.

'Padfoot,' he said, laughing and pushing at the dog, 'chill out, bro, come on.'

Lily laughed, 'It's alright, if he jumps on us,' she said, brushing her hair back from her eyes, 'he's really cute.'

Marlene leaned towards her and muttered, 'That's not the only cute thing you want to jump on you,' and Lily elbowed her in the ribs.

After a few more seconds of struggling, he finally succeeded in extracting himself from the house without the dog bounding out behind him. He stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door shut behind him, 'Sorry,' he said, laughing and wiping his hands on his jeans, 'he just _loves_ new people. He's a fucking lunatic, but he's totally loveable, I swear.'

He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and held his hand out to them, a wide, warm smile on his face, 'I'm James Potter.'

Lily didn't (couldn't) move, so Marlene grabbed his hand, 'Marlene McKinnon. This,' she nudged Lily, and Lily cleared her throat, smiled, 'I - I'm Lily. Lily Evans.'

She reached out, took his hand, and immediately didn't want to let go.

So,' James said, laughing as he dropped his hand back to his side, 'you're really British?'

Lily laughed, decided to opt for a joke to try and get her bearings back, 'What gave it away?'

James grinned, 'Accent was a bit of a hint.'

Lily smirked, 'And they say Americans aren't clever.'

'Hey,' James gasped, let his jaw drop a bit, 'two minutes on my porch and you're already insulting me.'

Lily grinned, 'There's just something about you, Potter.' Marlene snorted and Lily shot her a look.

James was still smiling when she turned back to look at him ( _did he ever stop smiling?_ ), 'Well, I'm sure you'd like to get settled, so I'll just take you back?'

Marlene nodded, 'That would be great. Get back into the bloody aircon.'

'So,' Lily said, raising an eyebrow as they walked off the porch and into the front garden 'your dog's name is Padfoot.' She was desperate to keep him talking, to learn more about him, to hear him laugh again. James didn't disappoint - he laughed, ran a hand through his hair, 'Yeah, my brother named him.'

Marlene snorted, 'Is he five?'

James grinned, 'In a way, yeah. But no, we're the same age.'

'Are you twins,' Lily asked, and Marlene choked on a laugh. Lily shot her a look, but James didn't seem to notice. He just grinned at her, 'Nope, he's adopted.'

James led them back around the side, into the back garden where the guest house was. 'This,' he said, pointing at the pool, 'is totally open to you guys to use. The beach is just a few blocks that way,' he pointed towards the back of house behind his, 'but if you don't feel like walking or it's too crowded or whatever, you're more than welcome to use this.'

He walked towards the back corner of the garden, and Lily was surprised at how large the guest house was. It looked, easily, as large as the flat she and Marlene shared back home, though she was sure that it was probably larger inside. It was a shockingly bright green, a colour so wildly different from the light grey of the house that Lily wasn't quite sure who was responsible for it. Still, the bright colour seemed to fit this man who hadn't stopped laughing since the moment he'd opened his front door.

'And this,' James rummaged around in his jeans pocket, pulled out a small set of keys, unlocked the door, and led them inside, 'is the guest house. This whole place is yours - has its own kitchen, two full beds… you saw the place online,' he said, running an awkward hand through his hair, 'I don't know why I'm bothering to tell you all this.'

Everything was just as it had looked in the Airbnb photographs - the house was full of light and colour. There was a bright red accent wall just inside the door near a full bed (that had a duvet with a bright orange design on it), a rich purple carpet on the floor, a sunny yellow wall back in the kitchen at the opposite end of the house, and a giant painting of the ocean hanging over the bed in the bedroom just off to the left. The sliding wooden panel was open and light was pouring in from the window in the bathroom in the far corner.

Marlene turned and gaped at Lily, 'Fucking hell, Evans.'

Lily raised an eyebrow at her, 'What?'

James looked between them, 'What?!'

Marlene ignored him, 'This place is _so_ fucking nice.'

Lily grinned, 'Obviously, you prat, didn't you look at the link I sent you?'

Marlene shrugged and Lily sighed, 'This is why you never know _anything_.'

James chuckled, 'You sound _just_ like Sirius, Marlene.'

Marlene and Lily raised their eyebrows at him and James clarified, 'My brother. Anyway,' he handed the keys to Lily and then stuffed his hands in his pockets, 'I'll let you guys get settled. My cell number is written on that paper over there with all the other information. Uh…,' he rocked back onto his heels, 'just let me know if you need anything, alright? I'll be in the house, anyway, and it's really no trouble.'

They nodded, Lily waved, and James shot her one last smile before he walked back out of the house and pulled the door shut behind him. Marlene rounded on her immediately, 'I give you twelve hours until you're underneath that bloke.'

' _Excuse me!?'_

Marlene nodded forcefully, 'You heard me,' she said, 'You started eye-fucking him the moment he opened the bloody door!'

'I did not!'

Marlene snorted, 'Yeah, okay, Evans,' and threw her case onto the bed by the door, 'I'll just take this bed, yeah? That way you have a door you can close.' She winked obnoxiously at Lily.

Lily rolled her eyes, grabbed the handle on the outside of her case and carried it into the bedroom just off the sitting room, dropped it onto the bed. She hadn't been eye-fucking him… had she? Sure, he was gorgeous, and sure, he was just her type, but they were only going to be here for a week. It wasn't like it would even be worth her time to start anything, especially something that couldn't go anywhere. And anyway, even if she had, it wasn't like he'd exactly returned whatever affections Marlene thought she in Lily.

'What do you want to do today, Marls?' Lily asked. She unzipped her bag and started to pull things out and set them out onto the bed.

'Uh,' Marlene said, and Lily could hear her rummaging around in the other room, but she couldn't see her behind the wall, 'I don't know. Nap, honestly. What time is it back home?'

Lily checked her watch, sighed, 'It's midnight at home, but we should try and - '

'Ugh,' Marlene groaned and Lily heard her flop, probably, back onto the bed, 'I'm just so fucking _tired,_ Lily.'

Lily started moving clothes from her bag into the chest of drawers on the wall near the sliding door, and she could see Marlene lying back on the bed, arm over her eyes. She shook her head, 'I'm fucking exhausted, too, but we're not going to adjust if we go to sleep now.'

Marlene groaned louder in response and Lily just laughed, 'How about this,' she said, shutting the drawers and starting to start her toiletries on top of the chest, 'we'll go out, get a nice cuppa tea, get some dinner, and then we can have an early night.'

'Where are we even going to _find_ a cup of tea in this hell?'

Lily rolled her eyes, 'I'm sure they have tea in Los Angeles, Marlene.'

'As long as it's not iced,' Marlene said, moving her arm up so that she could peek at Lily, 'I'm down.'

* * *

They managed, after a few Google searches and another Lyft, to make their way to American Tea Room in downtown LA, a name that had drawn a derisive laugh from Marlene ('What the fuck do Americans know about tea?'). She'd had to admit though, they both had, that the tea was pretty damn good. They'd ordered the largest (and strongest) pot of black tea they could, a plate of petit fours, and by the time they'd finished, they were both feeling a lot better.

Marlene insisted on buying tea to bring back to the guest house. 'We won't want to come out here every day,' Marlene said, as she grabbed two boxes off the shelf, 'and this tea is probably the best we're going to get.'

They walked around outside for a while, feeling the sun on their skin, laughing (largely at Marlene's now constant piss-takes about their fit Airbnb host), looking in shop windows. It was nice to be somewhere where the sun actually shined, where the air wasn't thick with humidity from the constantly impending rain - the energy was just _different_ here, and she wasn't sure how to describe it. Livelier, maybe, shinier, but there was also a kind of desperation about it that she didn't really know how to describe. Everyone was busy, important, killing themselves to get somewhere, but they wanted to make it look effortless, like it didn't matter. It was so different from what she was used to, but she found herself drawn to it all the same.

They eventually got another Lyft to a Korean barbeque place Lily had read about online ('We don't have anything like this at home!'), while Marlene grumbled about the completely horrid public transportation.

'Everyone just _drives_ here,' Marlene said, as they sat down at their table, 'I can't believe they don't have an underground system or something!'

'We'll have to figure out the buses, I think,' Lily said, flipping open her menu and starting to scan their options, 'These Lyfts are going to drive us fucking broke.' Marlene nodded, 'And, personally, I'm trying to spend everything I have on food while we're here.'

Lily agreed wholeheartedly. They both ate so much food at dinner that neither of them thought they'd be able to move again.

By the time they made it back to their place, it was just gone nine ('They weren't fucking kidding,' Lily had said in the car in the way home, 'the traffic here really is unbelievably bad') and they figured they'd put in a good enough show and could reasonably collapse into bed.

When Lily woke up the next morning, it was still dark outside. She rolled around in bed for a little bit, tried to talk herself back into sleep, but after what felt like a decade's worth of attempts, she gave up, rolled over, and grabbed her mobile off the bedside table.

 _Five fucking fifteen. Jesus Christ._

With no hope of going back to sleep, she figured that she should at least enjoy a quiet morning, see a California sunrise. She pulled a pair of sleep shorts on, slid on her shoes, and crept through to the kitchen. James, the lovely, lovely man that he was, had a kettle on the stove, and Lily quietly set about preparing herself a cuppa.

She grabbed the best mug from the cupboard (a giant mug shaped like a lion), dunked her teabag, and walked back through the house, past Marlene, and into the back garden. She'd just sat down in one of the chairs beside the pool when the outside light clicked on, the back door opened, and James' dog came bounding out into the yard.

He ran straight to her, narrowly avoiding the pool edge, and began nuzzling his nose against her knee, prodding the side of her head with his snout. She chuckled, 'Hi, Padfoot,' set her tea down onto the table nearby, and started patting his back.

She was so engrossed in the dog that she didn't hear James approaching. 'Oh, hey, Evans,' he said, and she jumped, shrieked. He laughed, 'Sorry,' and plopped down onto the chair opposite her.

'Uh-huh,' she said, shaking her head at him. He just grinned, 'What are you doing awake this early?'

'Jet lag,' she shrugged, 'Figured I might as well see the sunrise, enjoy a cuppa.' She nodded towards the mug on the table. 'Well,' James said, 'if a sunrise is what you're after, I have a much better idea in mind. If you're up for a bit of a walk, that is.'

He extended his hand towards her, and, after leaning over to grab her tea, took it.

'So jet lag woke me up. What's your excuse?'

He'd jogged back into the house to let Padfoot back inside, grabbed the cup of coffee he'd made earlier, and led them through the front garden and out onto the street. Now they were walking… well, she wasn't quite sure where, but she was content to wait and find out.

James shrugged, 'Just couldn't sleep. I usually get up around six for a run anyway, so five wasn't too far off from my usual.'

'Shit,' Lily said, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your morning.'

James shook his head, 'Nah, I'd rather - just - it's fine. Trust me.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah, Evans,' he said, turning and smiling at her, 'yeah, I'm sure.'

She was glad it was dark enough to conceal the fact that she was blushing. She took a sip of her tea.

'So, what do you do? Other than host Airbnb guests?' She shot him a smile and he chuckled, ran his free hand through his hair, 'I, uh… I work in tech.'

'Does _everyone_ in California work in tech?'

James nodded seriously, 'Tech and movies.'

Lily rolled her eyes, 'Sure. But I thought all the tech stuff was in Silicon Valley? Isn't that - ' she pointed up towards the sky and James laughed again, 'Yeah, Silicon Valley is in NorCal, Northern California,' he clarified at her confused look, 'San Francisco area. But this,' he spread his arms a bit, shot her a smile, 'is Silicon Beach.'

She snorted, ' _Silicon Beach?_ '

He shrugged, 'We're busy using our creativity for things far more important than naming geographical regions.'

She laughed, 'Fair enough. So what company do you work for?'

'Well, I, uh - My brother and I started it actually. The company I work for.'

' _What?_ Which one!?'

James ran a hand through his hair, took a drag of his coffee, 'HapTech. We're a biotech company that specialises in prosthetics research.'

Lily hummed, 'That's brilliant. What are you guys working on right now?'

James grinned at her, 'We've got a bunch of things going on right now, actually, but I think I'm the most excited about this collaborative brain mapping project we're working on. We're working with a few other companies to create a comprehensive neural map that we're _hoping_ will help us create improved electrodes for our prosthetics.'

He was so bloomin adorable when he talked about his work, that she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. 'How did you get into this?'

'My best friend, Remus - Sirius' husband, now, actually - lost his leg in a really bad accident back when we were kids. He always said that his prosthetics were kind of… well, shit, and so Sirius and I convinced ourselves that we could do better,' James laughed, ran a hand through his hair again, 'We're notoriously cocky and Remus _always_ drags us for it, but it worked out in our favour this time.'

James chuckled, ran his hand through his hair, 'He was our first client, poor bastard. He'd seen Sirius and I acting like complete fucking idiots our entire lives, he wasn't sure what to do when he walked into our first meeting. I think he thought we'd been body snatched or something the whole time we were working together.'

Lily laughed, 'You made your best friend attend a formal meeting with you?'

James nodded, 'Yeah, I wanted to do everything by the book. Anyway, we worked on our fabrication for a few years, and when Remus said it was the best device he'd ever had, I thought Sirius and I were going to die right on the spot. Sirius, especially.'

'When did all of this happen?'

'Uh,' James ran his hand through his hair again, and Lily bit back a smile, 'we started talking about it before we even went to college, but we didn't put in any actual work until I got to UCLA. We weren't smart enough to do it before then. We started working up fabrications after our freshman year and they were… they were pretty terrible at first. Remus made fun of us all summer. We finally got it figured out towards the end of our sophomore year, and then we convinced my faculty advisor to let us use the campus labs to mock it up.'

'So you all went to UCLA then?'

'Remus and I did, he studied English, the nerd,' James shot her a look and Lily laughed, shook her head, 'Sirius went to Caltech. We all lived together in Silver Lake, though - it's about halfway between our campuses.'

'You just couldn't bear to be apart?'

James laughed, 'We really couldn't. It's a little pathetic, but I think we pull it off.'

Lily snorted, 'I'm sure.'

'But tell me about you, Evans. What makes you tick?'

Lily sighed, 'My story isn't anywhere _near_ as exciting as - '

'I sit in labs all day and when I'm not in labs, I'm in boardrooms. I'm hardly living in some adventure movie.' He raised his eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes.

'I'm a chemistry teacher,' she said, laughing, 'I'm _really_ not living in an adventure film.'

'No,' James said, shaking his head at her, 'no, that's awesome.

Lily grinned sarcastically, 'Look at us, changing lives.'

'Nooo,' James said, smiling at her, 'we're not making this about me again, Evans. We're talking about you right now.'

She groaned, 'Please god, you're going to kill me.'

James just grinned. 'So, what ages do you teach? I have no idea how the UK school system works, actually. I'm guessing you teach like… high school aged kids? Fourteen to eighteen?'

'Yeah,' Lily said, 'basically. I teach what we call Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, but I've been thinking about moving to a sixth form and teaching A Levels.'

James just stared at her. Lily laughed, 'We have exams after KS4, our GCSEs. You can either go on to A Levels, sixth form, and likely to university, or you can just be done with it altogether.'

James hummed, 'That seems unnecessarily confusing.'

She laughed, 'It really isn't.'

'Why would you want to switch?'

'KS3 starts at age 11, and while I love teaching the younger kids, I really love the teaching I get to do with the KS4 students. We can talk about harder, more complicated things, the kids are usually more excited… I might see if I can find an 11-18 institution and teach at all three levels for a while, see if I like it. A Levels are a lot more intense.'

'That seems reasonable. So,' James stuffed his hand in his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, 'why did you decide to go into teaching?'

'You're really trying to just embarrass me to death, aren't you?'

James shot her a quick grin as they stopped in front of a tall glass building, the tallest one for at least a few blocks, 'Are all British people this dramatic?'

James unlocked the door, Lily laughed, 'No, but we _are_ all this repressed.'

James snorted, held the door open, and let Lily walk through. 'Where are we,' she looked over at him as he led them to the lift, hit the up button.

'Now, I didn't do this to be obnoxious - '

'Oh my god. Is _this_ your building?'

The lift opened, they walked in, and James hit the button for the top floor, looked at her sheepishly, 'Yes?'

She smacked his arm, 'You are _so_ obnoxious!'

'I just wanted you to see the -' he broke off, ran his hand through his hair, 'fuck, you're right. _Fuck_.'

Lily laughed, 'My god, are Marlene and I going to talk about you later.'

James groaned and Lily could see the flush on his cheeks in the security lights. She laughed, reached out and patted his arm, 'Relax, Potter. You're alright. We'll only make fun of you a little bit.'

The lift opened on the top floor of the office building - the walls were made entirely of glass and there were huge, long tables instead of cubicles. She only had a second to look around, though, before James grabbed her by the hand and started pulling her towards the stairs. 'No time, Evans,' he said, tugging her into the stairwell just to the right of the lift, 'we've only got like ten minutes until sunrise.'

'But - '

'I'll give you the grand tour later, Evans, just come on.'

She rolled her eyes, but allowed him to pull her up the stairs.

They walked out onto the rooftop that, quite honestly, Lily had expected to just be a normal rooftop, with aircon units and whatever the hell else they stored up there, but there were actually a number of tables set up, more glass walls surrounding the perimeter. It was still dark, but she could tell that there would be a fabulous view from this rooftop once the sun rose.

She gaped at him, 'What - '

'Outdoor break room,' James said, 'we have them downstairs too, but I know that _I_ like to get outside in the middle of the day, so - ' he gestured towards the space and Lily shot him a look. 'This is like - I - '

She didn't _want_ to talk about money, but she wanted to talk about money. _Holy shit._

James shrugged, 'We've done well. My staff have earned it.'

Lily just stared at him. James cleared his throat, 'Anyway. Uh, I come up here a lot when I can't sleep. This is my favourite spot to watch the sunrise. The sunset is better here, obviously - you should do that tonight, actually. Go sit out on the beach, you'll see what I mean.' James walked over to a pair of lounge chairs set up near the edge, gestured for her to sit down. He drank the rest of his coffee, held his mug up at her, 'I can actually run downstairs and make us more coffee if you want. Or tea or whatever.'

Lily smiled, 'What kind of tea have you got?'

'Lipton, I think.'

Lily groaned, 'Good god,' James laughed, shook his head, and Lily smiled, 'Well, alright. If you're offering. It's better than nothing.'

She handed him her mug and James grinned, 'Back in a minute. Don't start without me.'

She'd laughed and shouted, 'Like I have any control over this,' but he was already gone. He came back a few minutes later, two steaming mugs in his hands, and handed one to Lily. 'I noticed you left your bag in your last mug and it didn't _look_ like you'd added any sugar or anything, so I just - '

Lily nodded, smiled, 'That's perfect, James, thank you.'

He sat down in the chair next to her, grinned, 'No problem.'

The sun began rising a few minutes later, and they sat quietly, just watching the sun come up over the buildings, its rays bouncing off rooftops all along the horizon, and sipped at their drinks. James had said that it wasn't even the best sun-related piece of Los Angeles, but it didn't matter. It was still beautiful.

It was about quarter past six when James cleared his throat and Lily jumped, turned, and found him looking at her. 'We should probably get going,' he said, standing up and grabbing his mug off the table, 'if that's alright.'

'Oh, yeah,' Lily said, 'of course.' She got to her feet, took another sip of her tea, followed James back across the roof.

'Sirius and Remus are actually coming over tonight, by the way,' James said, as they walked back out of his building and onto the street, 'if you and Marlene want to join us. We were just going to lay around the pool, but we could do that and then go watch the sunset on the beach if you want.'

Lily laughed, 'How very romantic.'

James shot her a cheeky grin, 'I hope so, Evans.'

Her bloody heart stopped.

They chatted the rest of the walk back from James' office, the sun warming the backs of her legs and her heart thrumming wildly in her chest. He was really, really easy to talk to, James Potter was. He laughed at everything, himself, his friends, her stupid jokes that he claimed to love. He was a vibrant storyteller, too - every story he told her, about childhood, uni, his apparent adulthood came complete with huge, sweeping hand gestures, different voices, and colourful asides that somehow improved already hilarious content.

They walked back through the gate when they got home, around the side, and into the back garden. James stopped just outside the door of the guest house, smiled at her, 'I should go get ready - uh, for work, but uh - it was nice spending time with you, Evans.'

He smiled then, a smaller smile than his usual ones, but brighter, warmer, fuller. She felt like it was hitting every part of her, making her heart race. She smiled back, 'It was nice spending time with you, too. Thanks… for this morning.' He took a few steps backwards, his eyes trained on hers, before he turned on his heel, and strode back into his house.

When Marlene woke up a few hours later, Lily was sitting on the edge of her bed surrounded by every piece of clothing she'd brought.

'James' friends are coming over tonight. Please help me.'

She could tell by the look on her face that Marlene was never going to let her live that down.

* * *

She and Marlene spent the day lounging around on the beach, covering themselves in the thickest layer of sun cream imaginable every hour or so. She'd heard that Venice Beach was kind of... weird, and, true, there were a number of performers along the boardwalk and colour was exploding out of every single space possible, but Lily liked it there, liked it a lot. There was a looser energy about it that she didn't often find back home, a kind of bizarre freedom that she was really drawn to.

They had lunch at some cafe that James' Airbnb guidebook had recommended (Marlene had quite _thoroughly_ taken the piss for that one), before they wandered back to the beach, determined to absorb as much of the sunshine into their skin as possible before they went back to England. By the time they had gathered up their things, just gone five, and began walking the few blocks back home, Lily would have sworn that she was made of salt and sand.

'So,' Marlene said, looping her arm through Lily's, 'you've managed to distract me all day, but don't think I forgot that you owe me more details about your morning adventure with Potter.'

Lily had largely been trying to avoid this conversation, knew what Marlene was going to tell her to do without even having to have it. 'There isn't really more to it. I already told you everything.'

'Nooo,' Marlene said, and the way she drew it out reminded Lily of the way James had said the same thing that morning, 'All you said was that you woke up at some ungodly hour, James was awake, and you two went to the bloody office building he _owns_ to watch the sun come up.'

'Yeah,' Lily said, brushing a piece of hair out of her face, 'That's all there was to it.'

Marlene laughed, 'Don't lie to me, Evans. I saw your face when I walked into your room this morning. You asked me for _help._ You never ask me for help.'

'That's just because you're really, really great with the fashion thing. Like,' Lily gestured at Marlene, 'look at you. You're stunning.'

Marlene flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder, 'I know, but stop distracting me.'

Lily huffed, 'There really _is_ nothing though,' she said, 'we just talked. That's it.'

'Do you want it to stay nothing?'

Lily ran a hand through her hair, 'I knew we would get to this, fucking hell.'

'I'm just saying,' Marlene laughed, 'it's been… what? _Years_?'

Lily groaned, 'Please, by all means, continue rubbing salt in that wound, you know how it thrills me.'

' _I'm just saying,_ ' Marlene said again, pulling Lily closer into her side, 'we're only here for the week, you're never going to see this bloke again, so there is literally no way that this can go wrong. He's fit, you're fit, and, judging by the way that you two have been staring at each other, you totally want to fuck.'

Lily sighed, 'What if I catch feelings?'

Marlene considered her for a moment, 'Do you think you might catch feelings?'

She thought of the way that James ran his hand through his hair, the way he smiled his bright, wide, stupid smiles at her, the way he laughed, loud and long, at everything, the way he made her tea, told stories, held her hand. The way his hand felt in hers.

'I think I already might've.'

'Shit.'

* * *

By the time they got back, they could hear someone screaming with laughter from the back garden. Marlene smirked at Lily, 'Guess we're meeting them now.'

Lily sighed, 'Guess we are.'

Marlene looked at her, 'You alright?'

Lily nodded, 'Yeah. I'm sure his mates are lovely. And this doesn't matter anyway, I have nothing to be freaking out about.' Marlene studied her for a moment, but didn't say anything, just tightened her grip on her arm and led them through the garden.

They walked around the back of the house, barely dodging Padfoot as he made a lap around the yard. She had just taken in the scene when a tall, impossibly gorgeous man with long black hair shouted, 'This must be the Lily we've heard so much about,' and darted across the lawn to hug her.

'Maybe tell them your name _before_ you hug them, Sirius.' A blonde, a bit taller than Sirius, walked over to them, laughing, and extended his hand. He smiled when she took it, and his smile was incredibly warm, a bit softer than James' around the edges. 'I'm Remus,' he said, shaking her hand, 'And, because he's too rude to introduce himself,' Remus shot a look over his shoulder, but Sirius didn't look sorry, 'that's my husband, Sirius.'

Sirius smiled broadly when Remus introduced him, wrapped his arm around Remus' shoulders, 'Do you ever think that I just like getting you to introduce me because I love hearing you tell people I'm your husband?'

Remus elbowed him lightly in the side, called him a moron, but there was no mistaking the look on his face.

They grabbed drinks from a cooler on the edge of the patio, and walked over to the set of deck chairs beside the pool, Sirius smiling widely at Lily as he sat down in the chair next to Remus and kicked his legs up. Remus had studied abroad in London for a semester during uni and was thrilled to get to talk about it with them (Sirius mocked him behind his back so often that Lily thought Marlene was going to explode from laughing). They chatted about uni and their work, too - the banter flowed easily between them, and they spent more time laughing and taking the piss than Lily had ever expected she would with a group of people she'd just met.

'Have you guys eaten,' Remus asked, leaning over and grabbing his beer from the side table and taking a long drink. Marlene shook her head, 'We ate lunch, but it's been a few hours.'

'Good,' Sirius said, 'because James is in the kitchen cooking everything fucking imaginable and it might break his little heart if you weren't.'

Remus shot Sirius a look, and Sirius returned it with a shrug, 'Like it's some secret.' Remus sighed, 'Go see if James needs help or something.'

'I'm busy,' Sirius said, leaning back in his chair, 'Red, why don't you go see if he needs help? James would be happier with you anyway.'

'Oh, but I wouldn't want to - '

'You won't be imposing, fucking hell' Marlene said, rolling her eyes. Sirius looked at her over the rims of his sunglasses, 'I think I'm going to like you.' She smirked, 'Of course you are.'

Lily got immediately to her feet and started striding across the lawn when she heard Remus groan, 'There are two of you in the world. Fucking two of you. Great.'

She slid open the patio door and James looked up from the avocado he was cutting. 'Oh, hey, Evans,' he smiled, and she couldn't help but smile back. 'I was sent to assist,' she said, resting her hands on the worktop, and James laughed, tossed the avocado pit into a bowl, 'Somehow I'm not surprised.'

Lily leaned across the bench, raised an eyebrow at him, 'Oh?'

James just grinned, 'I know all of Sirius' tricks by now, Evans.'

Lily wanted to ask him to elaborate, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to go down that road. She just smiled, 'Well, what can I do?'

'You can help me chop vegetables if you want. Or you can just grab the chips out of the pantry,' he pointed with the knife towards a door on the wall to her left. 'I'll do you one better,' Lily said, 'I'll do both.'

'Oh,' James said, laughing, 'Renaissance woman. I like it.'

Lily dumped the crisps into a bowl James had left out on the counter, grabbed a knife from the knife block, and began slicing up vegetables while he mashed up his guacamole. After he'd finished mashing, he squeezed a lime over top, and grabbed a pepper from Lily's pile.

'So, what do you think of them so far,' James asked, shooting her a quick look. Lily laughed, 'They seem… energetic.'

James snorted, 'That's putting it lightly.'

'I like them,' she said, scooping up her peppers onto the edge of her knife and dumping them into the bowl James had placed between them, 'Remus just seems like a really, really great guy. Nice and warm and fucking smart - '

'It's a wonder he ended up with Sirius,' James said, laughing. Lily grinned, but shook her head, 'No, Sirius is - well, too smart for his own good, I think, but he's a nerd as much as you and Remus are. He just hides it better.'

'Hey,' James said, nudging her with his elbow, 'I'm not a nerd!'

She laughed, 'Yeah, _okay,_ Potter.'

James clicked his tongue at her like he was disappointed, shook his head, 'And here I thought I liked you, Evans.'

 _And… I'm not breathing._

Luckily, Sirius chose that moment to walk inside, one arm around Remus' waist, and grinned at James, 'We decided that the sunset is boring and we're going to swim instead. That cool?'

James cocked an eyebrow, 'Does it matter if I say yes or no?'

Sirius laughed, 'Not really.' Marlene walked into the kitchen and Sirius grinned at her, 'It's a go!'

Remus shook his head, 'I'm going to go get my other leg,' he dropped a kiss onto Sirius' lips, 'Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone.' Sirius just grinned, 'No promises.'

Remus walked back into the kitchen a moment, hands on his hips, 'Sirius, where the fuck did you put my swim leg?'

Sirius grabbed a handful of crisps from the bowl on the worktop, starting dipping them into the guacamole and stuffing them into his mouth, 'I thought I left it in the living room.'

Remus raised an eyebrow, 'As I'm standing here without my swim leg, I'd say that you _didn't_ leave it in the living room. You got it out of the car, right? That thing will be fucking nuclear if you didn't.'

Sirius shrugged, 'Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did. Check upstairs in the spare room.'

'Why would you have put it there?'

'That's where all our swim trunks are and shit.'

A look of understanding crossed Remus' face, 'Oh, fuck, good point.'

'HA,' Sirius pointed at him, triumphant smile on his face, 'I win this round, Lupin.'

Remus grinned, 'Excuse me, it's Black-Lupin now.'

James gagged into his drink, 'You two are disgusting. Get out of my house.'

Sirius smirked, wrapped his arm around James' shoulders, 'Don't lie, James. You are so absurdly happy for us you don't even know what to do with yourself.'

James tipped his head back, scrunched up his features like he was in pain, 'Remus, your husband is bothering me!'

Remus snorted, 'He was your problem before he was mine, James, sort it out.' James groaned theatrically and Remus rolled his eyes, walked out of the kitchen.

Marlene leaned over and whispered, 'You want to fuck a complete nerd, Evans,' into her ear.

She hated that she couldn't even deny it.

True to Sirius' word, James had cooked pretty much everything in existence for dinner that night - he had rice, beans, all kinds of grilled meats and vegetables - and it was all so delicious that Lily was having a difficult time stopping herself from eating every single thing in sight. Finally, after her third full plate, she downed the rest of her beer and leaned back in her chair with a groan, rested her hands on her stomach, 'If I eat one more thing, I'm going to explode.'

Marlene smirked, 'You shouldn't have eaten so much, Evans. Now you might get a swimming cramp.'

Sirius shook his head, 'Don't worry, McKinnon, our James was a lifeguard in college. He can give her mouth to mouth if necessary.'

Lily was glad she'd finished her beer, because she definitely would have spit it into her lap. James shot him a stern look, 'Sirius.'

Sirius just grinned innocently back at him until James gave in, shook his head. 'Sorry, Lily,' he said, turning to her, and Lily opened her mouth to respond, but Marlene cut across her, 'No need to apologise, Potter. Trust me.'

Then she winked overtly at Lily and she was sure, _positive,_ that she was going to melt through the fucking floor. Instead, she opted to escape - she picked a stray bit of pepper off the table and hit Marlene in the forehead before getting to her feet, 'If I start to drown, you gits can just leave me in there.'

She pulled her t-shirt off over her head, threw it at Sirius ("Oh, don't be salty, Red!"), kicked her shorts and slides off into the corner, and prayed to god that she would hit her head when she dove in and put herself out of her misery.

She didn't die on the dive, but she almost did when she surfaced and looked back over at the table. Sirius, Remus, and Marlene were laughing hysterically about something, Padfoot was nudging insistently against James' knee, but James ' eyes were locked on hers and she was sure, judging by the look Marlene was currently sending her way, that he'd been watching her the whole time.

She dove back under the water before she did something she'd regret.

They settled into a fairly easy routine after that first night, Lily and Marlene. Marlene (insisting she had to catch up on her beauty sleep, though Lily suspected other motives) slept until _at least_ ten every morning, and Lily had taken to having breakfast with James out on the patio. After an hour or so of barely contained flirting, James went off to work and Lily ran back into the guest house, jumped into bed beside Marlene, and recounted their entire conversation.

By the third day of this, Marlene told Lily that if she didn't do something soon, she was going to wring her neck. 'Your choice,' Marlene said, as she pulled her mobile out of her trouser pocket to take a picture of Lily posing near the Hollywood sign, 'Death or snogging.'

Lily kicked a dirt clod at her head.

When they got home that night, covered in dirt and sweat from their hike in Griffith Park, James was throwing a ball with Padfoot in the back garden.

'How was the hike,' James asked, smirking as he took in their dirt covered faces.

'It was brilliant,' Marlene said, and the general exhilaration in her voice seemed to take James aback. 'I know,' Lily said, laughing at his expression, 'I've known her since primary school and I think this is the first time she's ever genuinely been excited about anything.'

Marlene nudged her, 'Bugger off, Evans. I get excited about things.'

'Yeah,' Lily said, reaching down to take the ball from Padfoot when he bumped his nose against her thigh, 'arguing, winning, fighting, being right…'

'I'm a solicitor, you prat,' Marlene said, laughing, 'that's basically my job.'

Lily snorted, 'Yeah, okay.'

Marlene rolled her eyes, 'For that, I'm taking the first shower.'

Lily shrugged, plopped down onto the grass, threw the ball for Padfoot again, 'Fine by me. I'm enjoying myself at the moment.'

Marlene raised an eyebrow and Lily rolled her eyes, 'Berk.'

Marlene laughed all the way back into the guest house.

James sat down beside her on the grass, 'So, she's pestering you, too?'

'Huh?' Padfoot was nudging her again, but he didn't move when she threw the ball, just kept nudging her until she scratched his ears.

'Marlene,' James said, leaning back onto his arms, 'Sirius is pestering me, too. And Remus, in his own way. He's just subtler, so I hardly notice it when Sirius is on my case, too.'

'What are they on your case about?'

'You.'

Lily swallowed, and now Padfoot was looking for the ball again, so she mimed throwing it and he took off, 'Oh?'

She looked over at him and he was looking at her that way again, the same way he'd been looking at her in the pool a few days ago. She felt her stomach start to twist itself into knots. 'Sirius thinks I like you,' he said, and she couldn't believe that he was being this forward, that he had the fucking guts to talk about his bloody emotions like it was nothing. Maybe it was nothing. Or, if it wasn't nothing, maybe it was just easier for him. It had never been easy for her, but maybe Marlene was right.

She took a deep breath, licked her lips, and even though she knew where this was going, knew she was going to do what she'd been saying that she wasn't going to do, she couldn't bring herself to stop now, not when her heart was racing in her chest and all she wanted in the whole fucking world was to be closer to him. 'And what do you think?'

James mimicked her, leaned a bit closer, 'I think he's right.'

'Huh,' Lily said, leaning so that there were only a few inches between their faces now. 'Yeah,' James said, and before she had time to process it, his hand was on her cheek and his mouth was on hers.

She'd thought that James was giving her heart palpitations before, but she'd had absolutely no idea. His hand had moved almost immediately from her cheek to her hair, pulled her closer to him, and his mouth was hot and insistent against hers and he smelled so _fucking good_ and it was like all her systems were firing at once and none of them knew what they were supposed to be doing.

She shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be opening herself up to this - she already liked him, liked him a lot, and this was only going to make it worse, give her a very clear image of what exactly she'd be missing when she boarded that plane in a few days. She shouldn't be doing this, but she wanted to be, didn't want to stop, wanted more.

She slid across the grass, dropped her knees on either side of his hips, pressed herself closer, and when he groaned against her lips, she felt it everywhere.

The hand he'd had behind him moved to her waist, his fingers sliding up underneath her shirt, brushing along her stomach, and she moved hers into his hair, trailed her fingers along his jaw as they went. When she shifted against him, he pressed his fingers into her hip, pulled her closer, and she did it again just to see how far she could push him.

He groaned, pulled back, panting a bit as he looked at her. 'Fucking hell,' his voice was deeper, rougher, and she loved the way his chest rumbled a bit against hers when he spoke. She breathed a laugh, 'Yeah,' and kissed him again.

Now that she'd started, she wasn't sure how she was ever going to stop. She would be completely happy cancelling her flight, lying out here in the grass, kissing James forever, feeling the way that his body felt pressed up against hers. It was stupid and exactly why she hadn't wanted to start this in the first place, but it was too late now and she was absolutely not going back.

She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he groaned quietly, his chest rumbling against hers again and making her grin against his lips. He pulled back again and she rested her forehead against his, 'You really are trying to kill me,' she said, moving her hands from his hair, down to his chest. He forehead rubbed against hers when he shook his head, 'No, I just really don't want Marlene to walk out here and catch us at it.'

Lily chuckled, 'You're right, that does seem like something that would happen right now.'

'I almost don't care though,' James continued, running his hand up the back of her shirt, spreading his fingers out across her skin, 'I don't think I could care about anything other than you right now.'

'You don't have to sweet talk me, Potter,' she said, smiling, 'You've already got your hands in my shirt.'

'What if I want to sweet talk you, Evans?'

'Well, that's a bit confusing for me, but I think I could handle it.'

He laughed, leaned up and kissed her again, softer, chaster kisses that made her arch into him a bit, made her want more. He smiled against her lips before he pulled away. 'Go on a date with me,' he said, and he was smiling so stupidly she had to laugh. He grinned, 'I'm serious. We'll work around your vacation plans, I don't want to infringe on your time with Marlene or anything, but just - go out with me, Evans.'

It wasn't the smoothest request, not when she could feel his hands twitching a bit against her back, or see the vulnerability on his face, just enough the she noticed it lingering around the corners of his smile, in the bright shine of his eyes. She'd certainly been asked out by much calmer people, but none of them had laughed as loudly as James did, none of them had his brilliant hazel eyes, none of them kissed her and made her feel like she wanted to melt herself down and pour herself onto him.

She didn't know how she could possibly say no.

When she walked into the guest house a few minutes later, Marlene was sitting in the chair beside the window, toweling her hair off.

'I already texted Remus and Sirius,' Marlene said the moment she walked through the door she walked in through the door.

Lily raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused, 'What?'

'We're going to go out tonight,' Marlene said, her voice thick with significance as she followed LIly into her bedroom, plopped down onto Lily's bed, 'and you're not invited.'

LIly walked into the bathroom, 'Well that's rude.' She turned the water on, stripped off, and climbed in. Marlene laughed from her bedroom, 'I saw you and James outside in the garden, Evans. Don't pretend that you're cross with me for making myself scarce tonight.'

She froze for just a moment in the shower, before she sighed, 'So you saw us.'

'Yeah,' Marlene said, and Lily could hear the smug smile in her voice, 'looked hot. I'm proud of you.'

Lily snorted, 'That's all you have to say?'

'Do I really need to remind you that I was right?'

'I'm pretty sure that you said twelve hours,' Lily said, grabbing her shampoo off the rack and washing her hair, 'I lasted way longer than that.'

'You don't get prizes for denying yourself pleasure, Evans.'

Lily laughed, 'I'm pretty sure there's like, a whole sex thing about exactly that.'

Marlene laughed loudly, 'Fuck, you win this round.'

* * *

Sirius and Remus picked up Marlene a few hours later, after she'd had time to drag Lily through every possible outfit option she had and remind her that she didn't need to feel guilty about going out with James.

'I know it's just your way,' she said, laughing as she made them both a cuppa tea, 'but I _want_ you to have this, Lil. You're going to have fun with a _fit_ bloke and you're finally going to get laid after, what, a decade?'

Lily wished she had a biscuit or something to hit her with. Instead she just sighed, and opened her mouth to reply, but Marlene had already cut across her, 'And don't say this is a stupid idea, either. I know you've already convinced yourself that this ends in disaster, but everything will be alright, Lily. I promise you.'

After Marlene, Sirius, and Remus left, Lily had nothing else to do, so she decided to just sit out in the back garden, soak up some more sun. Padfoot was running around, but James was nowhere to be seen, so she sat down on one of the pool chairs (groaning internally about how annoying it is to sit in a fucking dress), threw the ball with him, scratched his ears, and told him how adorable he was.

'Shame my dog gets more praise from you than than I do.'

She jumped, whirled round, and her heart immediately started hammering in her chest.

He wasn't wearing anything she hadn't seen him in before, just black jeans, a pale pink button down, and trainers, but there was something about him this time that was making it difficult for her to breath. The sleeves on his shirt were rolled up (something that was always inexplicably sexy), the pink of the shirt made his skin look even tanner than it already was. He was smiling at her like he always was, too, but there was something more there this time, something that lit her stomach on fire.

She shrugged, 'He's better looking than you are.'

It was a blatant lie and they both knew it. ' _Okay_ ,' he said, laughing and reaching down to take her hand and pulling her to standing, 'I have two options for you.'

She raised an eyebrow and he grinned, 'First option - downtown, modern French food, a little more formal. Kinda bougie after dinner activity. Second - '

'I don't get any more information than that?'

James smirked, 'No. Second option, night in Venice. Modern American food, nice place, but definitely more casual. Beach themed after dinner activities.'

'Beach themed? What does that entail?'

'The beach.'

'Oh,' she smacked his arm with her free hand and he laughed, squeezed her hand. She thought for a moment, 'Let's do Venice.'

James grinned, 'Great, let me just,' and he pulled his mobile out of his pocket, dialled, and pressed the phone to his ear.

'Hello, I'm just calling to cancel a reservation - James Potter, two - Great, thanks, have a great night.'

Lily gaped at him, 'You should have told me you had a reservation at the other place!'

James chuckled, shook his head at her, 'Oh, Evans, I'm not some amateur. I had reservations at both places.'

She hummed, 'How clever of you.'

James grinned, 'It's been known to happen.'

She rolled her eyes, and he laughed, tugged on her hand so that she was standing closer to him, only a few centimetres between them, and her breath caught in her throat. 'Hi,' he said, reaching up and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The smile spread across her face before she even knew it was coming, and she dropped her gaze for a moment before she looked back up at him, 'Hi.'

He dipped down and briefly touched his lips to hers, but she wasn't having it, not now that she knew exactly what it felt like to really kiss him - she reached up with her free hand, wound her fingers in the hair at the base of his neck and pulled his mouth back to hers, pressed her body against his. She felt him smile against her lips, but he kissed her back for a moment before he drew away. She huffed, annoyed, but James just smiled at her, 'We're going to be late if you keep that up.'

'I'm not really bothered about that, if I'm honest,' she said, raising an eyebrow at him. He laughed, turned, and started walking through the garden towards the front of the house. 'Wait,' she said, and he raised an eyebrow at her, 'What?'

'I've got to go get my bag, hold on.' She dropped his hand and ran back into the guest house, grabbed her bag off the chair where she'd left it earlier. She pulled her mobile out of the side pocket to check before she walked back outside. She was now, apparently, in a group chat -

 _1 310 555 9284: Hey Red, tell James he should take you to Wurstküche ;)_

 _1 310 555 8320: Dear god, Sirius_

 _Marlene McKinnon: WHAT'S THE JOKE_

 _Marlene McKinnon: OMG, Lily yes, tell him. TELL HIM x_

She added Remus and Sirius to her address book, walked back outside, mobile still in her hand, and shook her head at James. He laughed, 'What?' She held her mobile up once he was close enough to read it and his eyes went wide, 'I'm going to kill him.'

Lily laughed, 'I'm going to tell them that I told you and that you - I actually don't know what the best way to respond is, I haven't googled this place yet.'

James rolled his eyes, took her hand again, and started leading them through the yard, 'It's a German sausage restaurant. Sirius is five years old.'

Lily burst out laughing, 'It is not! Oh my fucking god, that's hilarious.'

James grinned at her as he pushed open the gate, 'I'm surprised you're not pissed.'

Lily shook her head, still laughing, 'He's clever, that Sirius. Hold on.' She tapped away on her mobile for a second, grinning to herself, before she held the phone up for James to read.

 _Lily Evans: We already went ;)_

He laughed, shook his head, pulled her hand so she was walking closer to his side, 'I think you're going to fit into our weird family perfectly, Evans.'

She tried to ignore the way that set her heart racing. She failed miserably.

They laughed, chatted, joked the rest of the walk towards the restaurant James had chosen, a small place on Abbot Kinney with only a dozen tables and a queue out the door. She decided on the tasting menu, and they spent the evening laughing more loudly than was probably appropriate and eating some of the most delicious food Lily had had in a long time.

She looped her arm through his as they walked out, 'So, when do my beach themed activities begin?' James laughed, leaned down and kissed the side of her head, 'If you're hungry, they can start right now.'

Lily grinned, 'I'm always hungry.'

He took her to an ice cream place just down the road from the restaurant - the smell of waffle cones drifted down the street and the queue wrapped around the corner. It went quickly, though, and they were soon in front of the giant freezers, chatting excitedly about flavours. 'Goat cheese and black olive brittle,' Lily said, bouncing on her toes in the queue, 'I literally _have_ to try that, James. I have to! OH MY GOD, LEMON ICE CREAM?!'

They both ordered giant cones, unable (and unwilling) to limit themselves to just a few flavours. They walked over towards the beach, James' hand warm in hers, did their best to keep their ice cream from melting down their arms. Lily kicked her sandals off when they got to the beach, laughed as James tried to cuff his jeans without dropping his ice cream on himself, and they walked out into the sand. They sat down in the sand as far from everyone else as they could get, and Lily elbowed James when he laughed at her for trying to figure out how to get her dress to lie flat.

'I'd like to see you wear one of this bloody things without flashing the entire beach, you prat.' James just laughed, kissed her head, took her hand.

They sat quietly then, finished off the rest of their ice cream, watched the sun dip lower and lower into the ocean. She leaned back onto one arm, let her eyes move over the horizon, watched as the sky shifted from blues and yellows into oranges, purples, brilliant reds. She wasn't sure how long they'd been sitting there, James brushing his thumb along her knuckles, but the beach had gotten progressively quieter until she could only really hear the roar of the ocean. After a few more minutes, when the sun had dipped almost entirely below the horizon, she turned and found him looking at her, she smiled softly at him, 'What?'

'You're beautiful.' He'd said it so plainly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, and though her impulse was to deny it, she just smiled, leaned over, and kissed him.

They sat there for a few more minutes, her head on his shoulder now, the sky getting darker and the few remaining people around them starting to wander off back towards the boardwalk. James bumped his cheek against the top of her head, 'Ready?'

She nodded, turned, and kissed him again, before she got to her feet, dusted sand from what felt like every inch of her body.

The quiet that had settled over them on the beach shifted as they walked home - they still talked, still laughed, but it was no longer the exuberant, energy filled conversation they'd had earlier in the evening. Something heavier had settled between them, had knotted up her stomach, had made her feel like she was on the edge of a cliff, getting ready to jump off. Their little touches, innocent before, became slower, smoother, the pressure increased just enough to hint at what the rest of his skin might feel like pressed against hers. James looked down at her as they turned onto his street, and she knew he felt it too. His eyes were on fire in the light of the streetlamps, and her gut coiled a little bit tighter.

'Your place or mine,' she asked, grinning stupidly at him as they reached his gate, trying to release some of the tension in her gut. He chuckled, took her hand, and pulled her up onto the porch, through the front door. She hadn't seen much of James' house the last time she'd been in here, just the kitchen, the bits of the sitting room that she could see from the back, and she didn't have much time to look now, either, because he pressed her back into the cupboard door as soon as they walked in, pulled her mouth to his, pushed his hips into hers.

She pressed her hands into his chest, broke the kiss, grabbed his hand, and began pulling him upstairs. 'Do you know which bedroom is mine already,' he asked, and she could hear the laughter in his voice. She shook her head, didn't bother to turn around and look at him, 'No, but I'm just going to pick one if you don't tell me.'

He moved his free hand to her waist, 'First one on the right.'

He spun her as soon as she hit the landing upstairs, pulled her back against him, kissed her again. James reached over her shoulder, pushed the door open, and they stumbled into his room. She'd forgotten how awkward it can be, kissing and walking at the same time, especially when the person you're trying to kiss is what feels like half a metre taller than you, and she laughed against his lips as she tripped over her own feet. He smiled, moved his mouth to her jaw, 'What's so funny, Evans?'

He stepped forward again, the back of her knees hit the mattress, and she smirked, reached back and unzipped her dress, let it pool at her feet. James' eyes moved over her skin as the dress fell, his breath coming in sharper, harsher than before, and she climbed up onto the bed, slid across the duvet towards the pillows, James hovering over her as she went, his body _just_ far enough from hers to make her needy. As soon as her head hit a pillow, she wrapped her arms around his neck, tugged him down, pulled his mouth back to hers.

He lifted himself up onto his elbow, ran his hand up her side, before he wedged it underneath her, she arched her back and he unhooked her bra, dropped it onto the floor. She moaned when his hand moved up to palm her breast, moved her hands between them so she could start unbuttoning his shirt.

He moved to kiss her neck, murmured 'Fuck,' in her ear, and she wouldn't have been surprised if she'd died right then and there, but then he leaned back, pulled his shirt over his head, and his skin met hers, and _well._ She unbuttoned his trousers, her fingers fumbling the button a few times before she finally got it, and James chuckled against her neck, 'Need help, Evans?'

She pushed his jeans down his hips, 'No. Did you need a bloody invitation to take my knickers off?'

Lily groaned when their skin met, the sharp angles of his hips fitting perfectly against her curves, his weight pressing her into the mattress, his body touching hers everywhere except where she needed him to be.

She arched into him, wrapped one leg around his back, pulled him into her, he just laughed into her neck, started kissing his way down her neck, across her collarbone, her chest.

She groaned, 'James -' but then he'd sucked her nipple into his mouth and she forgot whatever she was planning to say. He moved one hand between them, brushed his fingers along her thigh, moved back up like he was going kiss her as he slid his fingers against her, but he hovered just a centimetre above her lips, didn't kiss her until he slid his fingers along her clit and she gasped.

He moaned into her mouth, ' _Fuck,_ ' the moment he'd touched her, broke the kiss again, shifted quickly, dropping kisses down her body as he went, until he was lying between her thighs. He groaned the moment he put his mouth on her, and the vibration shot through her, made her moan and bury her fingers in his hair, arch against him. He placed his arm across her hips, pressed her back down into the bed, and flicked his tongue over her clit until she was trembling beneath him.

She was still panting when she grabbed his shoulders and pushed him away from her, 'Condom, now,'

James laughed, sat up, wiped his hand across his chin, 'Is that how you say condom?!'

'For fucks sake, James, we can talk about your incorrect pronunciation later, just fucking get one.'

He was still laughing when he leaned over to grab one from the drawer on his bedside cabinet. She didn't care that he was laughing, though, because then he was pushing into her and _fucking hell how had she gone years without this_ but she couldn't remember it ever feeling this good, and whether it was the space of years that had made her forget or the fact that she was completely, disgustingly smitten with him, she didn't care.

She just pressed her fingers into his shoulders, gasped into his neck, told him to go faster.

* * *

It became a thing. _They_ became a thing.

Their morning walks became shags, their morning coffee became long, drawn out conversations, subtle touches, endless flirting - it took James longer and longer to leave the house, longer for Lily to finally push him out the door. He would message her throughout the day, reminders that he was thinking of her, memories from that morning, promises for tomorrow. It was hard to remember sometimes, _sometimes,_ that she was leaving in just a few days, that this man (this ridiculous, loving, caring, hilarious, brilliant man) would be staying behind. She felt like (and she felt absurd even thinking it, even more so telling Marlene about it) she'd known him forever, like he was some part of her life that had always been there, just waiting for her to find him.

It was even harder, too, because it wasn't _just_ James - it was all of them.

Sirius, Remus, James joined them every night, and they went to the beach, to dinner, just walked around Venice. It still surprised her how they all fit together, how perfectly they complemented one another, how easily they laughed. Sirius with his obnoxiously loud laugh and filthy jokes, Remus' dry, deadpan humour and easy smiles… she loved, liked, all of them. Sirius and Marlene usually skipped ahead on their nights out, arm in arm, laughing the loudest, Remus and Lily chatted animatedly, dragged the other two, and James flitted between them, his energy and excitement pulling at Lily's heart until she couldn't help but feel it, too.

They were all already important to her, but no one compared to James. No one had ever compared.

This, though - as wonderful as it was - this was the reason she hadn't wanted to get started in the first place. Because she'd known, from the moment she met him, that there was going to be something magnetic about him, something that would draw her in, make her like him, make her think that she could love him, make her desperate to stay even though she didn't want to for any reason other than him.

'So, what are we supposed to do now?'

They were lying in his bed again, her head on his chest while his fingers trailed long, smooth paths over her back. She could hear the steady thrum of his heart, the rush in his lungs as he breathed, but it was hard to focus on anything for too long when he was pressed up against her like he was, his body hot and firm against hers. His hand moved up, buried itself into her hair, and he began rolling her strands through his fingers.

She only had a few hours left now.

'What do you think we should do?'

His voice was so quiet she'd barely heard it, had felt it vibrate through his chest more than anything else.

She liked that he didn't have to ask what she meant.

'Well, we - we live on completely different continents,' she said, and though she breathed a laugh into his skin, it made her stomach clench painfully to say it out loud.

'That _is_ a bit of hurdle,' James said, and his left hand moved over from his other side, skimmed over her hip, around her lower back, up her spine.

'I'm a pretty decent hurdler, though,' James said after a few moments, and Lily snorted, titled her head back onto his shoulder so that she could look at him, 'What?!'

He shifted on the pillow a bit so that he could see her, beamed when their eyes met. 'I just meant,' he said, and his hand resumed its' twirling in her hair, 'that I want to make this work. If you want to, I mean.'

He studied her for a moment, and she could tell (because she already knew how horrible he was at disguising his emotions, they were written all over his face), that he was anxiously awaiting her response. She'd smiled, though, as soon as the words had left his mouth, so he had to have some kind of clue.

The fact that he was willing to even consider this, that he _wanted_ this still left her stunned.

'We… _continents_ ,' she said again. It was a bit feebler this time, but he didn't seem to understand the limitations that they were up against here. She knew that James had laughed and bantered his way out of a lot of things, but it wasn't going to bring their bloody countries closer together on a map.

James laughed, 'We have these fantastic things,' he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and turning them, so that her back was flat against the mattress and he was hovering over her, 'called aeroplanes. I don't know if you've heard of them,' he dropped a brief kiss to her lips, moved to her jaw, 'but they let you fly, through the _air,_ ' he kissed the high point of her jaw, just next to her ear, and his breath (hot on his skin), made her shiver. 'You can go all over the _world_ in those things,' he said, beginning to kiss his way down her neck.

She laughed, and it was deeper, rougher than it usually was, and she felt him smile against her skin. 'I know you prat,' she said, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him up so that she could look into his eyes, 'but we can't - at least _I_ can't - be buying plane tickets every other day.'

'Maybe I'll just move the company to London,' James said, grinning at her before he dipped down again, 'Shouldn't be too difficult.' She sighed, arched her neck into him, 'I - _James_ \- '

He pressed a final kiss to the hollow of her throat, moved back up so that he could look at her, 'Yes, darling?'

He'd put on a British accent and she rolled her eyes. 'What,' he said, laughing, 'that was pretty good!'

She nodded, 'It was alright, but we're trying to - '

'Lily,' he said, and his tone, firm and earnest, made her stop, 'I know that this isn't going to be easy. I know that I can't just grab all my shit and follow you, which, trust me, is kind of my impulse.' He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, tucked it behind her ear, 'And I know that it's crazy, Sirius says it's crazy, that I… I feel the way that I do about you. We only just met a week ago for fuck's sake, like that's… anyway.'

He flushed a little and she couldn't help but smile up at him, her heart pounding away in her chest as it was. She moved her hand from between them, cupped his cheek, pulled his mouth briefly to hers. He smiled against her lips before he pulled away, just a breath of air between them, so he could finish what he was saying.

'My point,' James said, 'is that I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to make this work. It might crumble the moment you touch down in London, we might end up hating one another in a few months, but this,' he pressed himself closer to her, let their bodies click together, 'this feeling I get whenever I look at you? It's worth holding onto.'

She swallowed, nodded, 'Yeah.'

James laughed, his chest vibrating against hers and making her smile, 'So emotional, Evans. Get a grip.'

She reached up, ran her fingers in his hair, rested her palms on his chest, 'Shut up. I'm repressed.' He shook his head, and his lips brushed against hers, 'You're scared. That's all.'

'Shut up, I'm not scared.'

'You are. It's okay. I'm scared, too.'

' _Continents,'_ she said again, and James shifted his weight onto one arm, moved his hand up to brush his thumb along her cheek, 'I know,' he ran his down her side, rested his palm on her hip, 'We'll make it work.'

'I know you're supposed to say that,' she said, 'but I'm still trying to figure out the logistics.'

'Think of all the potential benefits instead,' he said, and his slid his hand up over her hip, along her waist, 'phone sex,' he dipped down onto his forearms, his chest grazing hers, and dropped a kiss just underneath her ear, 'Skype sex,' he slid down, kissed her collarbone, 'reunion sex,' kissed her breast.

She wove her fingers into his hair, breathed a laugh, 'I'm sensing a theme.'

She felt his lips curve into a smile against her ribs, 'We'll be romantic, too, Evans, don't you worry. I'm going to _Love Actually_ the hell out of you.'

She burst into laughter, ' _What?!_ '

He kissed her stomach, rested his chin on her hip, 'We've already started,' he said, smiling up at her, 'we might as well continue, right?'

She pushed herself up onto her elbows, raised an eyebrow at him, 'How have we already started?'

'You,' James said simply, and he nudged her thighs apart with his elbow, kissed her hip, 'You came to the States to seduce me with your accent.'

She laughed, 'So I'm your Colin?'

He hummed, 'Is that his name?'

'Well his real name is - '

'I've got to be honest,' James said, 'I don't really care about this guy, Evans.'

'You started it.'

'Only so I could accuse you of seducing me,' he said.

She laughed, 'You know, I'm starting to feel like Martin Freeman and what's her name.'

James cocked an eyebrow at her, 'So no Colin, no Martin Freeman. Which plot would you like, Evans?'

She chuckled, 'Definitely not Alan Rickman's plot. Though I love Emma Thompson…'

'Okay, no Alan. He _is_ a huge shitbag in his plot, isn't he?'

Lily nodded, 'A right ol' git.'

James laughed, 'Maybe I'll make cards. Get an old boom box and a Christmas carol CD.'

'They don't end up together, though.'

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, but she was glad she hadn't when she saw the look on James' face. He positively beamed at her. 'Maybe I'll be Hugh Grant, then.'

'Ohhh, _that_ I can get behind,' she said, nodding enthusiastically.

He smirked, 'Somehow I thought that might be the case.'

She laughed, smacked him on the shoulder, and he grinned at her, 'I'll tell off the President at a huge press conference while wearing an awesome suit, and then we can get caught making out furiously somewhere.'

She laughed again, 'That sounds brilliant.'

James beamed, 'Thought you'd like that.'

'Am I already so predictable?'

'I don't think you'll ever be "predictable," Lily.'

'Oh, stop, you're going to make me blush.'

James laughed, 'Liar.' He dropped a kiss to the inside of her thigh, she sucked in a breath, and James raised an amused eyebrow at her, 'Now, shush, Evans. I've only got a few hours, and I have a lot of work to do if I want to tide you over until I can make my way over to London.'


End file.
